In the news....

It could only be a matter of time. As inevitable as tinsel, fluffed-up robins and the arrival of Auntie Flo at nine sharp on the 25th, the annual obsession with mistletoe has begun.

The National Trust wants everyone to buy home-grown mistletoe this year to support our vanishing orchards. Mistletoe, an odd but beautiful parasitic plant, lives mainly on apple trees: so more apple trees means more Christmas kisses.

You can always try growing your own: it takes perseverance, but you could be picking yours from the back garden a couple of Christmases from now.

On a sadder note, one of our most remarkable trees fell victim to vandals this week: someone took an axe to the oldest of the Holy Thorns, near Glastonbury in Somerset. The gnarled hawthorn tree is, legend has it, descended from one planted by Joseph of Arimathea. It's not the first time it's happened: Cromwell's soldiers hacked down Holy Thorns in the 17th century to stop pesky pilgrims turning up. But at least they gave a reason.

Elsewhere on the web...

Gardeners everywhere have been a-buzzing and a-twittering with news of Monty Don's return for the new series of Gardeners' World on BBC2 next spring. 'The Lord of Cord', as he's somewhat irreverently known to Arabella Sock and others, has been welcomed with open arms by many, though some reactions were less happy. It even inspired poetry.

Several bloggers have been out capturing the spectacular hoar frosts this week while in Shirl's garden there has been much frolicking by starlings, bluetits, bramblings and chaffinches. Esther, sadly, is gazing out at a shopping trolley. It doesn't have to be this way; not when experienced garden designers like Chris Barnes are offering advice on winter gardens, with some cracking plant combinations.

Finally, one of those posts which makes you fundamentally re-think how you garden is the award-winning article by John Walker on the seemingly inescapable dependence of gardeners on oil-based products. Thought-provoking stuff.

Out and about...

He gets about, that Mr. Claus. He's splitting his weekends between Wakehurst Place in Sussex, RHS Garden Rosemoor in Devon and Trentham Gardens in Staffordshire up till Christmas, and that's not even counting the secret woodland he retreats to at Alnwick Garden in Northumberland. He's also to be found in the Walled Garden at Glenarm Castle, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, along with the World of Narnia, Alvin and the Chipmunks and a live reindeer. He must be worn out by Christmas Eve.

Those after something not involving fat men in red overcoats can try Christmas foraging – at Lily Hill Park in the Blackwater Valley, Berkshire, you can load up with holly, ivy and other festive foliage next Saturday. Or join the gardeners for an early wassail in the orchards of Cotehele in Cornwall. There's singing and banging large sticks involved: something about chasing away evil spirits and ensuring good apple crops next year. Sounds like a good excuse to drink a lot of cider to me.